>>> Almost any creative pursuit 13:02:53:00
you can think of has found a
supportive audience right here.
But what comes next? 13:02:58:12
Is Seattle evolving fast enough 13:02:59:15
to support its local art and
organization.
>> I checked in with city arts 13:03:03:09
magazine editor Leah Baltus.
[CHEERING] 13:03:09:21
∂∂ 13:03:09:27
>> I think it's important for 13:03:16:24
the magazine to be more than
just a magazine.
We joke sometimes like did these 13:03:23:03
trees deserve to die for this
purpose?
And I think the purpose has to 13:03:27:15
be greater than just publishing
stories about arts things.
There has to be some kind of 13:03:32:06
underlying current.
I'm Leah Baltus and I'm the 13:03:35:12
editor in chief of city arts
magazine.
I have an amazing team, you 13:03:41:12
know.
The core team that's here in the 13:03:45:18
office with me.
>> Hey, dan, I want to check in 13:03:47:24
with some of these photos.
>> They want to believe they are 13:03:51:00
part of a community that they
want to see grow and develop and
get stronger.
And lead in some way. 13:03:57:21
And offer something to the 13:03:59:03
creative landscape on an
international level that isn't
being provided already by other
cities.
So in the same way that we look 13:04:07:03
at Seattle as an innovator in
technology or in lefty thinking
or whatever, there's something
in that spirit that also
influences the artistic 9
perspective that we have.
We're not trying to be New York 13:04:21:24
and we're not trying to be
London, we're not trying to be
Paris, we're not trying to be
Chicago or Los Angeles, we're
trying to be Seattle in a bigger
way.
So when we sometimes sort of 13:04:31:03
position it as if we have to
shed our D-I-Y, make it happen,
do whatever you want, no
boundaries.
We don't have to lose that 13:04:41:15
spirit in order to put down more
infrastructure.
And I think what we've 13:04:45:03
accomplished as a city in terms
of music, it's the perfect
evidence of that.
Because we've been a music city 13:04:51:06
for, you know, almost a century.
And we have a lot of 13:04:55:12
infrastructure there.
We've learned how to economize 13:04:58:15
or turn into dollars what
musicians are doing.
We have successful labels. 13:05:05:15
We have successful bands. 13:05:07:09
There's no reason why we can't 13:05:08:15
do that in other disciplines as
well.
You have like your Mike daisies, 13:05:13:12
right?
Mike was a big part of the 13:05:15:27
'90s garage theater in Seattle
as he found more success with
his monologues, he's now based
in New York.
Reggie watts, once he kind of 13:05:23:18
segued out of music into comedy,
he couldn't really do what we
wanted to do here, so he's in
New York.
It happens all the time. And 13:05:34:18
not necessarily even with names
that people recognize, but even,
you know, before the name is
even recognizable, people max
out, and they have to leave. 10
The next generation of support 13:05:43:15
for the arts in Seattle is a
puzzle that has to be solved, in
many ways, more from the idea of
what generation these people are
a part of than it has to do with
the fact that they work in the
tech industry versus the
industrial, you know.
It's not Amazon versus Boeing. 13:06:02:24
It's that there is a change 13:06:05:12
throughout the country, no
matter where you go, in terms of
how people envision patronage.
There's a change in where people 13:06:14:18
get their entertainment in terms
of live stuff versus on your
couch stuff.
And you know, those big cultural 13:06:21:09
changes have to be addressed.
Seattle is a huge leader in 13:06:27:24
terms of institutional change.
Think of PNB, which has new 13:06:30:24
leadership in Peter Bole in the
last few years, which puts it in
a completely different place,
has completely reinvigorated the
organization, embraces the kind
of edgier style alongside
classical ballet, and makes the
whole organization much more
vibrant.
You see the symphony doing the 13:06:50:06
same thing.
You see Sam with its total 13:06:53:21
transformation going from being
widely considered this kind of
crusty institution through the
'90s, into something that
people feel really connected to.
And a free sculpture park, you 13:07:04:06
know.
And if those major institutions 13:07:08:00
are leading the way, and we can
see it at that highest level,
and we certainly see it at the
scrappy level with indie, indie,
indie, now, it's just about how
we kind of keep filling in
toward the middle so that we get 11
that arts ecology worked out,
where all the different elements
are happening, like a thriving
forest, you know.
And it's going to take a while. 13:07:27:12
It's a lifetime's work for a 13:07:30:03
whole community of people.
∂∂ 13:07:32:27
>> You can pick up a free copy 13:07:35:09
of city arts magazine just about
anywhere in the Puget Sound
lowlands, or visit their website
at cityartsonline.com.
>> Seahawks! 13:07:47:00
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Start at KCTS9.org/pie. 13:07:49:06
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